Oboe

“Majestical and Stately, and not much Inferior to the Trumpet.” So wrote Henry Playford of the oboe in The Sprightly Companion, an oboe ‘how to’ published in 1695. Handel’s ‘favourite’ instrument, Tomaso Albinoni’s vehicle to fame (listen to his Opus. 7 oboe concertos) and the lucky recipient of some of Vivaldi’s most technical writing (he wrote 17 concertos for oboe and strings), the Baroque oboe is one of the OAE’s glorious instruments.